Deputy mayor defends her affordable-housing strategy

Re: “The price of success” (June 12): I am incredibly proud of the affordable-housing plan we’ve developed and are delivering on time and on budget. This is the most far-reaching and comprehensive affordable-housing program of any city in the nation, and contrary to the critics, it’s one that is engaging nonprofits and serving lower-income families more than any plan before it.

A third of the 63,398 affordable apartments being built and preserved so far are being undertaken by the nonprofit sector. That is a huge leap forward that’s helping community organizations serve more people and grow their capacity in the housing business. We’re also engaging MWBE firms—for-profit companies founded and run by women and minorities—in affordable housing like never before. We just carved out and awarded six of our best public sites to MWBE firms, as an investment in their growth and involvement in their communities.

When it comes to the “affordable for whom?” critique, we’re building and protecting homes for the lowest-income New Yorkers at a record pace. More than 9,000 of our apartments so far are for families earning no more than $24,500 per year. And 8,600 are for families earning between $25,000 and $41,000. These units are the hardest to finance and develop—and we are delivering them on a scale no administration has achieved. And I just directed our housing agencies to provide another $1.9 billion toward production of these lowest-income units, especially for those serving our seniors and our veterans.

I make no apologies for a strategy that serves the most vulnerable families but also makes room for the first responders, teachers, health care aides and office workers who make up the backbone of our economy and also face a dire shortage of housing they can afford. We design our housing programs to serve everyone, because this has to be a city for everyone. That’s the New York I grew up in and the one I want to pass down to my kids.

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